Rance and I are told ALL THE TIME...
"Don't miss these years, they fly by."
"Before you know it, he'll be graduating from high school and you cannot get those years back."
"You better enjoy it while it lasts because he'll be gone soon."
Being completely authentic here - we ARE enjoying every moment and we do not take any of these days for granted! It is inevitable that Jayden is going to grow up but we can choose each day to enjoy the moments, the laughs, the cries, the hard discipline, the disobedience, the snuggles (though RARE), the singing and dancing, the learning, the training, the tantrums, the throwing food on the floor, the constant No No's, and the sweet kisses and I love you's. The every day is a gift of grace that we hold to loosely trusting the Father along the way!
My hope is that this blog does not portray that our life is perfect and that our child is perfect. If so, I have completely misrepresented our REAL lives! My heart is to show off the GLORY OF GOD in the midst of the every day and for this blog to capture highlights. My prayer going forward is that I can share more than just 'weekend highlights' and "Jayden updates" but thus far, time has not permitted for more since God & people take priority! My main goal for this blog from the beginning was to keep our family and friends updated with pictures (who live hours away) and to have a personal log of our family's journey (updates & ministry & memories) ~ I am hoping that will shift somewhat in the future but we shall see!
*For now, let me update give an update on Jayden*
The last update was when Jayden was ONE - now he is 15 months old! Yikes!
Here he is at:
13 MONTHS OLD - July 7, 2015
14 MONTHS OLD - August 7, 2015
15 MONTHS OLD (same outfit as 13 months)!
Let me preface this by saying - EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT. TIMELINES LOOK DIFFERENT. COMPARISONS STINK SO LET'S DON'T COMPARE OKAY?
How do I even begin to describe the last 3 months?!?!?!
Jayden is high energy, very expressive, and acts TWO or THREE most days, NOT ONE. He can say anything, repeat anything, and definitely expresses in phrases not just one word here or there. He is very reserved when he first gets around a crowd of people or even a few. Those that aren't around him long have no idea how super interactive and crazy he is because he can 'appear' very calm and serious when you are around him those first few minutes (little trickster). When he lets loose - IT'S ALL OVER THEN! He is so much like his daddy and I love that about him.
He continues to love putting out the corn for the squirrels and also the bird seed for the birds. He takes this chore seriously and even tries to eat some himself.
He loves wearing a hat by the way!
Any FREE time we have is spent OUTSIDE. I often wonder what on earth we will do in the winter and my friends with boys just say that we will just bundle up and be OUTSIDE then too!
we love evenings like this...
Jayden LOVES kids, especially his buddy Wyatt! He wants to do whatever Wyatt does! It's been fun to incorporate SHARING into all these play times together lately.
He's thinking how cool Wyatt is here :)
It's nearly impossible to get a picture of Jayden looking at the camera so this is what most of our pictures look like and I'm okay with that. At some point since he turned one - he discovered he has a hole in his nose and he's been sticking his finger up it every since.
Here goes another attempt at taking a picture with Jayden - please note the attitude in this picture?!?!? I thought this wouldn't happen until later in the years but he clearly doesn't want to take his picture beside me! By picture 4 he was good because I let him have his space!
Jayden LOVES walks because where we live includes passing by LOTS of animals, tractors, dump trucks, lawn mowers, and so on (all of which he names out loud - SHOUTING). He knows his animals and what they say (duck, cow, horse, owl, pig, dog, cat, turkey, bear, fish, deer, chicken, bird, etc).
Jayden is FEARLESS. Thankfully these horses are so gentle and kind! We have been teaching Jayden what 'gentle' means over the last couple of months too so he doesn't clobber everyone like he does Rance. It's fun how he really is distinguishing what that means.
He loves to put anything through a hole - in this picture it's a stick through a hole in the trailer!
HE LOVES SQUATTING IN THIS POSITION and I think it's because he sees Rance and I squat down so much to get on his level!
Jayden is a big fan of the PARK just down from our house!
Since he turned ONE - he's been climbing everything! It's included several falls but Rance is all for letting him TRY things (that make my heart drop) and taking the time to teach him how to do EVERYTHING (even when I would prefer to 'not let him try that yet'). I am so thankful for this because while I want to control in my flesh - letting Rance lead has allowed Jayden to learn in areas that he never would have had I kept things 'safe' or 'in control'.
He's also so proud of himself when he learns or does new things!!!
Some of his favorite toys inside are his BLOCKS which he loves to stack, his popper vacuum (which Rance calls a lawn mower b/c that sounds more manly), his dump truck, his legos, his school bus, his ball and his fishing pole!
He can climb the mountains and hills like a boss!!!!!!! I think that has helped his walking and balance in a whole new way!
Jayden LOVES the four-wheeler and excursions through the woods!!! He flips out when he sees KELLY and EVAN on their dirt bikes (he screams "KELLY" "BIKE") or any of the boys riding by! We are SO grateful how these boys always stop to see Jayden.
Rance blows my mind as a daddy. In fact, he really challenges me as a mom! He is SO intentional and SO patient with Jayden and takes the time everytime to let Jayden help with whatever he is doing. In the pictures below, Jayden is spraying off the 4-wheeler after a muddy ride and then out of nowhere he turns to spray Rance! He repeats exactly what he sees his daddy do. He trims bushes, picks up sticks, mows grass, loads rocks to haul off, uses tools and all!
Jayden thoroughly enjoys his big camo chair :)
In this particular instance, Jayden is climbing in the fridge to get the MILK JUG out to let me know he would like some milk! Talk about MR. INDEPENDENT!
He will find a way to get wherever he is trying to go! A few weeks ago we walked in his bedroom and he had climbed up the ladder to the top bunk bed - and was smiling SO BIG!
EXPLORING - it's what we do!!!!!!!
Jayden loves to 'help' and 'do' whatever we are doing - in this case - washing vehicles!
I must mention - we always stop at Chick-fil-a when we are traveling because HE LOVES IT! He loves the people watching, the food, and all. He is a big fan of the fruit cup and yogurt also.
He is feeding himself with a fork and spoon really well too! In fact, he really does not want any help eating - he prefers to do it himself.
He is obsessed with TRACTORS and I think that has a lot do with the fact that his Pa has him hooked (plus he is hooked on PA and whatever he does).
And he loves tools and 'working on things'!
Rides with Pa are his favorite!
Jayden is SO expressive - (and those teeth hahaha)
He LOVES getting in the back of the truck too (and like I said earlier - he loves his hat and drinking out of a cup with a straw).
This is how he feels about life!
He loves his grandma and he LOVES clapping and watching how everyone responds!
In the last few weeks, he has began driving his tractor BY HIMSELF. Oh my word! He can reach the peddle now and the next thing I know he is driving down the mountain! I had no idea this would be happening at 14-15 months!
The other day when we were on the 4-wheeler - he wanted to be the one 'driving' it too and he kept pushing Rance's hands off so he could steer by himself.
- Instead of just leaning in for a hug or opening his mouth wide open for a kiss - he actually makes the kissing sound and gives an actual kiss that melts my heart. If he sees Rance and I hug - he wants in on it immediately! Otherwise, the snuggles are RARE! My best chance for a snuggle is first thing in the morning. He also says I love you :)
- He still goes to be around 8 or 8:30 and sleeps in his crib all night without a peep. His wake up time is between 5:30 and 6 (and on a rare occasion he'll sleep until 6:30). We usually try to leave him in his crib until 6 though. For the most part, he does not cry when he wakes up but will just talk and talk and call out for 'me mommy'. Speaking of - at some point over the last couple of months he began saying 'me mommy' 'me daddy'! I guess he wants to take ownership of us.
- If you point to a picture - he will gladly point out and say his mommy, his daddy, his Pa, his grandma, Brooke, Daniel, Travis, JAYDEN, and the list goes on. I love that he recognizes people's faces in pictures and I really crack up that he knows who Jayden is.
- We have taken away his paci at all times except when he sleeps. At some point, we will take it away completely but in the mornings we will ask him for his paci and he will hand it over or go put it in his bookbag!'
- He clearly knows the things that are always a 'no no' because he will walk by an outlet or candle or vase and say 'no no'; however, he will still test us and move forward in touching sometimes. It's in these times we call him Adam (thanks to our fallen sinful nature) :) HA!
- I am learning so much about discipline and distinguishing between those times when it is clearly a character issue and he is disobeying and those times when he is simply frustrated because he can't fully communicate what he needs or is wanting or trying to do. We are really big on asking him to 'use his words' and saying 'do you need help?' and it's crazy to see the shift in him when he knows he is being understood in a frustrating moment where he is 'stuck'.
- Speaking of 'stuck' - a few weeks ago he ran out of the kitchen and in 30 seconds we heard him yelling 'stuck' and realized he had shut himself in the bathroom. Rance took this as an opportunity to teach him how to open and close doors which he has mastered now (I'm not sure how I feel about this haha!).
- I am not sure how much he weighs but we will know this Friday at his 15 month appointment! What I do know is that he is HEAVY! :)
- He is wearing some 18 month clothes but I have just recently figured out that he definitely needs 24 month shirts and 18 month pants for the most part. He is wearing a size 5 shoe now and still in size 4 diaper.
- He loves to dance! He moves those feet and smiles the biggest cheesy grin showing off those front teeth and then blushes like crazy afterwards.
- He loves to play peee-pieeeee STILL to this day. He loves to hide behind you and hug you as he 'hides' and then he will poke out and say "PEE PIE"
- If you are holding him and talking or paying attention to something else - he will poke his head around right in front of your face and say 'HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY'. It trips me out!
- He is so distracted by FOOD haha (like his mama). If we are in the kitchen he thinks he is supposed to be eating. If I am driving down the road and he hears paper rattle he immediately says 'please please please' because he knows there is food around.
- He continues to say HEY to everyone he sees.
- He is very observant - if we are outside he can hear a dog or lawn mower or tractor from a mile away and he immediately starts barking like a dog or saying 'tractor'.
- Lately, we go outside and just ride around on the lawn mower because he loves it that much.
- He can throw a ball like a boss!
- He is definitely RUNNING now - everywhere.
- We talk to him just as if he was as old as us because he really does understand what we are saying! We can ask him to go to his room and get something or throw his trash away or wipe his mouth or clean up his toys or sweep the floor and he will go at it.
- He walks around the house with a picture of Pa or sees a tractor and yells for Pa which is the cutest thing ever.
- He will go grab Rance and I's shoes to rush along his eagnerness to go outside.
- He high fives everyone.
- It's so fun to incorporate God into the every day with Jayden and teach him that God made everything. He knows we pray to God and he'll say "PRAISE GOD" with his hands in the air but most importantly we just want him to know God is the most important part of our lives and He is worthy to be praised in the everything!
I feel like I could share sooooooooooooooo much more but let me just leave it at that for now!
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